Anneliese Dodds' resignation

[OhBuggerandArse]

Not because of sex or gender, but because of the decision to cut the Overseas Development budget. But inevitably there will be a knock-on effect on the Equalities brief - who will come next, I wonder, and will they be as committed as Dodds seemed to be to the TRA agenda?

https://x.com/AnnelieseDodds/status/1895447590789075008

Oooh can't say I'm sorry, I really can't stand her. Wonder who will replace her?

Yayyyyy. :)

I didn't agree with her FWR take but that letter is good

It shows the problems with slashing aid

Has she resigned from both? Might she remain as Minister for Women and Equalities?

Letter makes clear it is both - she has stepped down from Cabinet.

Agree. Of course it looks like following in Trump's footsteps; it is. And she's not wrong about the knock-on effects.

Oh, well.

Yup.

What a shame never mind

That sums it up nicely.

Brill

Makes sense from Dodds' perspective, she'd invested a lot of time building a foreign aid programme on an already tight budget and Starmer decided to cut it to the bone without even consulting her first. It's very disrespectful of him to undermine her work like that. Resigning instead of having to sort out the mess he just landed her in was the most appropriate decision.

Provisional “Hurrah!”, highly dependent on who follows her in post.

If we manage to get someone more reasonable and knowledgeable on the issue of women’s rights, I would be very happy.

Perhaps Starmer’s trip to the US has influenced him in this area of politics as well as the areas of military deployment to Ukraine and foreign aid.

I think her comments on the cuts to foreign aid are sound.

The choice of successor could be very telling, especially if her comments later in the letter are anything to go by:
'I am sorry that I will not be in post to deliver the groundbreaking new legislation on equality for black, asian and minority ethnic people, disabled people and LGBTQ+ people to which we are committed.' (Bolding is mine.)

Good riddance

"The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to. It incorporates the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic British law"

What more ground is there to brake, the ECHR covers everything, if it's not being implemented the government should do something about it not waste time reinventing the wheel.

Women need someone who is not a Kool-Aid guzzling transmaiden in the role to protect our fundamental rights and freedoms as promised by the ECHR.

God I hope not.

I hope she’s replaced by someone who’s not a fucking traitor to women

I've encountered her on a couple of occasions and have tried to raise the GI issue with her and been cut dead, so I'm thrilled she's out. There wasn't a hope of changing her listening or changing her mind.

The other one who needs to go before we can really hope for change is Nia Griffith, minister for Equalities, who is totally wedded to Stonewall and trans rights. I know someone who lives in her constituency who has effectively been banned from surgeries because Griffith doesn't want to hear GC views.

Did you read the first sentence of her letter?

She is entirely right about the knock-on effects. The Labour Party do not seem to understand that overseas aid is about influence and status for the UK as well as helping others. We could have cut the IDE budget instead (though I daresay she would have resigned over that, too).

Good. I can't stand her.

Agree, but as long as the job role continues to report to BPhillipson, this will continue. It needs to be removed from her.

This was my thought - what are they planning here?

I would prefer that they didn't replace her but had the respect to return the post to its proper position and not something split between 2.

Just another example of how little respect Labour has for women's rights.